Inadequate sentence

I would like to express my views about the sentencing of the two youths who tortured and burned a dog to death. I feel the sentence of three years' probation was a joke.

As a young person myself, I know the difference between right and wrong and have known since an early age that to inflict unnecessary pain or suffering on any living creature, animal or human, is wrong.

Only a truly evil person could perform such an act for his own pleasure.

It is not very often that the culprits are caught in cases of animal cruelty. In this instance, the authorities had a rare opportunity of sending out a strong message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated. They failed miserably. Justice was not served for the poor dog.

Dogs have pain receptors and nerve endings like our own. Any one with a dog of their own will also know that dogs, like many animals, have feelings, their own individual characters, their own ways of showing affection and a capacity to love.